Chapter 2125: Arming Up, Losing Contact

————I can't do this chapter tonight; my eyes are too tired to stay open, and my consciousness is drifting between clarity and chaos. I'll make up for it by getting up early tomorrow.

————

Once Sigude and his companions left the market to wander elsewhere, Xia Duo and Niya continued to sit at the edge of the market, keeping an eye on them until they entered an Elf residence; only then did Xia Duo retract his Scrying spell.

Afterward, the two of them lost much of their enthusiasm for sightseeing, and they just sat at the edge of this open-air market between the Trade District and the Commoner District until dusk.

But the night in Ailintar failed to reignite their interest; after overlooking this alien city for a while from a suspended terrace on the waist of a tall tower, the two soon returned to the Floating City.

Immediately following this, Xia Duo bid farewell to the Yinerfalang side, then drove the Floating City to slowly accelerate and head south.

……

On the other side, the "Golden Finger" that Xia Duo had deployed for some days finally yielded a harvest.

Siluwende, Terminos.

Inside a temporary residence rebuilt after the war, the Elf Poson-Ekaras had locked himself in a dark room for a full day; or rather, he had taken the whole day off today and did not go to assist the senior Mage in repairing the Mythallar.

The cause of all this went back to the Invisible Skull he had discovered in the ruins of a stone tower some time ago; he had been excited for several days after obtaining that Strange Object.

However, as his research into that Strange Object became increasingly difficult, coupled with the tedious work of repairing the Mythallar during the day, Poson had almost forgotten about that Strange Object which could not be perceived at all once it left his hand.

Yet just yesterday, when he woke up in the morning, he actually saw the Strange Object he had left on his bedside table; its appearance was the same as what he had explored at the beginning: an alien-shaped Skull.

It was not any race he had ever seen; it looked a bit like the legendary Sarukh Mage-Serpent, only the legends said the Sarukh Mage-Serpent had a robust physique, while the skull he had picked up was only the size of a palm.

The reason he still believed it might be a Sarukh Mage-Serpent skull, besides its own miraculous nature, was that the Sarukh Mage-Serpent itself might not necessarily be what he thought it was.

After all, that was an ancient race that existed even before the Elves came to this world and had once ruled over dragons; later generations' understanding of that era was mostly derived from some dragon myths.

And because of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, dragons had long since lost their civilization; even if they had some inherited memories, under the torture of the Dragon Madness generation after generation, there might not be much left, and even if some remained, it might not be the original appearance.

Therefore, after seeing the Strange Object suspected to be a Sarukh Mage-Serpent skull yesterday morning, Poson immediately sought help from his mentor in Taier'annuo.

That childhood mentor was now no more than an Elite Mage like him, but the other party's family background was not simple; it was an Upper Family from the prosperous era, and although it had declined now, it still possessed a foundation far exceeding that of a Commoner.

What Poson asked the other party about was some information regarding the Sarukh Mage-Serpent, and he locked himself in the dark room not only to wait for his mentor's reply but also to use the inspiration and Perception he had when he first discovered the Strange Object to probe this Skull Strange Object that had inexplicably revealed its form.

Poson believed that everything had a reason, and now that there was a change, perhaps he himself was the source of all these changes; the long-term attempt to attune to the Strange Object in the dark room in a state of near-transcendence made his spirit become somewhat inexplicably eerie.

"The mentor's news hasn't come yet; what should I do with you!" Poson muttered to himself, cradling the miniature Skull Strange Object in his hands.

Just a moment ago, he felt that the Strange Object in his hands seemed to be responding to his call, but due to some factor, this communication always felt like it was covered by a thin veil.

He had almost seen it, yet he couldn't see anything clearly!

"Should I attune to it without reservation?"

Poson subconsciously thought of the risks involved, but then immediately cast them out of his mind; he just held the Skull Strange Object with a solemn expression and moved it bit by bit toward his brow.

At this moment, if an outsider were to enter the dark room where Poson was and see Poson's behavior, they would likely report him as a Demon Descendant nine times out of ten.

But at this moment, no such outsider had broken into Poson's room, except for a pair of eyes hidden in the dark, observing with absolutely no emotional fluctuation.

Xia Duo had recorded almost the entire process of Poson's self-indoctrination; the "Golden Finger" he had deployed certainly possessed many Special Functions, but the most critical one was the Mind Suggestion.

In reality, what Poson thought was attunement to an ancient Strange Object was merely his own wishful thinking; from Xia Duo's perspective, it was just an ordinary Elf Mage being influenced by a mind Spell to unconsciously open his mind further.

"Begin!"

Xia Duo issued the command in his heart, and then the Spirit Cluster connected to his essence immediately responded; one relatively independent Spirit Cluster that seemed to be loosely connected to this cluster system was searched out.

Along with it was Poson's almost unmasked inner activity; no, this was no longer just real-time inner activity, but also the past memories of its source, which were also displayed before Xia Duo without any concealment.

Xia Duo felt that as long as he moved his thoughts slightly, he could reshape a brand-new Personality for Poson. Of course, if he wanted the Personality to be relatively complete, he could start from himself or the existences from the Projection Planes he had experienced.

"How should I put it? A little meat puppet?"

Xia Duo never expected that a whim at the time would have such a harvest! The Skull Artifact that Poson had obtained actually carried a Spirit Cluster whose essence was Xia Duo.

Or rather, that Skull Artifact was actually an extension of Xia Duo's brain (Spirit Cluster); of course, considering that the actual user of the extension was not himself or someone he knew well, there was a significant probability that it would fall into the hands of an enemy.

Therefore, the interior of that extension was almost pure, interacting only through the connections within the cluster system, and it could be controlled remotely.

Even if the extension were seized by an enemy, as long as Xia Duo disconnected the link, it would be nothing more than the loss of a valuable special Magic Artifact, while isolating him from risks he might not be able to withstand; it was quite worth it.

"Stand up and open the door to see what's going on outside!"

Xia Duo used the connection between his brain (Spirit Cluster) and that extension to issue a command to Poson; of course, the command actually received by Poson would not be so direct or explicit, but would inspire the other party in the form of a mysterious inspiration.

All the influence he exerted would be regarded by Poson as his own ideas and his own decisions, thereby maximizing the avoidance of the "meat puppet's" resistance.

Without external interference, Poson might not even think of resisting; everything was what he wanted to do and what he did himself. If he really wanted to resist forcibly, wouldn't that be resisting himself?